SANA'A February 05. 2024 (Saba) -The General Authority for Small and Micro Enterprise Development intends to implement the project of the first marketing business incubator for small and micro enterprises nationwide, in partnership with the Capital Municipality, Bonyan Development Foundation, and the General Administration of Parks.
Through this incubator, the first phase of which is scheduled to be launched in Al-Sabeen Park in Amanat Al-Asimah during the coming period, the Authority aims, with the participation of fifty projects, to support the access of small and micro-enterprise products to the local and foreign markets.
The head of the General Authority for Small and Micro Enterprise Development, Ahmed Al-Kabsi, explained in an interview with the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), that the Authority seeks through its project to restore community confidence in the products of small and micro enterprises.
He pointed out that these projects will be part of the Marketing Business Incubator Project , will enjoy many privileges , receive integrated , interconnected support, starting with productive , marketing training , qualification activities, and passing through strengthening the follow-up mechanism for the process of improvement, development , evaluation of the projects , ending with them owning a trade name to become projects with a licensed trademark in terms of form, content and conformity to health and environmental standards.
The following is the text of the interview :
Saba: Could you give us a brief idea about the marketing business incubator project that you intend to implement?
Al-Kabsi: The marketing incubator project is not a display of products, but rather a complete building of the capabilities of small and smaller projects, whether in the technical or marketing field, in making the financing decision, or in networking with merchants or suppliers, so that there is an integrated cycle of qualification that each project goes through so that its owner emerges from it with experience.
Complete construction of his project, including qualification in the field of marketing, so that he can enter the markets without the help of others in the future.
The concept of a marketing incubator requires work and effort, and through our studies and experiences, we have found that providing free marketing space for small and smaller projects is not the most appropriate solution for the owners of those projects. Rather, providing space with training is sufficient to make any small project capable of competing in the markets.
The market is interested in the direct sale and purchase of the product and does not interfere in the processes of modifying the product or raising its level so that it is able to compete.
However in the incubator project we focus on the project owner working to improve his product through our interventions so that he has full experience in entering the market and marketing and is able to compete. It produces other external products without interference or protection from any party.
Saba: Why do you think that providing free marketing space for small projects is not the ideal solution?
Al-Kabsi: Providing space for products is a good goal, but it is not a comprehensive solution for small business owners because we, as government agencies, will not be able to provide free space forever.
We believe that it is not appropriate for these markets to remain open permanently because at some point we will discover that these projects cannot compete or enter the markets as a strong, quality product, and therefore they will remain dependent on those markets provided by government agencies.
Based on our vision and directions in the Authority, we are keen that small projects do not remain “small”, on the contrary, we want them to develop into medium and large projects. However, in light of the continued provision of marketing space for these projects only, this is a problem that limits their ability to develop if not Deteriorate.
Saba: What is the Authority’s vision regarding the development of small and micro enterprises?
Al-Kabsi: Our vision is that we are responsible for producing small projects and not a specific commodity. Therefore, we are building future projects that will be competitive in the market and have the ability to enter the marketing field with high efficiency. We are keen to move away from emotional marketing and move to another stage, which is buying for the commodity itself because it will be a strong commodity and of quality.
Therefore, we have developed an integrated plan for the marketing business incubator for small and smaller projects based on a complete vision for those projects from before they enter the incubator and until they emerge into the local market as pioneering projects.
Saba: What are the most important components of that plan?
Al-Kabsi: The most important components of this plan are to fully build the capabilities of small and smaller projects, whether in the technical or marketing field, in making the financing decision, or in networking with merchants , suppliers, and implementing an integrated package of technical and administrative qualification for each project and qualifying it in the marketing field .
Therefore, the Authority will work to implement its interventions within the incubator project at the level of each project by addressing its weaknesses and enhancing its strengths. We expect that several projects will be launched to be the nucleus of future companies.
Saba: Where have you reached in implementing the incubator project?
Al-Kabsi: During the past few years, we completed the first phase of the project, which consisted of coordinating with our partners to announce the incubator.
Hundreds of entry applications were received from owners of small and smaller projects. We have set certain criteria for accepting any project, based on the priority being given to projects related to food manufacturing and clothing. (Clothes) as a national priority required by the current stage.
Of course, the stage of receiving projects was carried out by the sectors specific to each project. For example, projects in the food manufacturing sector were received by nutrition experts who specialize in food manufacturing, marketing, support , technical inspection, and those projects were evaluated and sorted.
About five hundred projects were screened in multiple sectors and according to the specified criteria. The screening process resulted in the acceptance of 50 projects to be part of the first phase of the Marketing Business Incubator project.
Saba: What is the importance of studying and evaluating the project owner?
Al-Kabsi: Studying and evaluating the project owner is of great importance, which is knowing whether that person is an entrepreneur and has future aspirations related to continuing the process of developing his/her project, or whether he/she just wants to provide a source of income, because it is important for him/her to have an idea and a future vision for his project. If she/he does not have this only needs to provide a source of income, as there is another intervention that the Authority makes regarding it.
Saba: How did the owners of small and smaller projects respond to the announcement of the incubator project?
Al-Kabsi: In the beginning, the announcement was made through the authority’s partners, who received a number of applications. In fact, the number of applicants did not match our ambitions. Therefore, we expanded the advertising process by posting the application form on the authority’s page on the Internet, which had a positive impact on the process of receiving applications, as hundreds applied to us from small and micro enterprise owners.
Saba: What are the most prominent problems that you faced during the stage of receiving applications?
Al-Kabsi: The most prominent problem is the presence of technically good products, but unfortunately they lack some important aspects, such as packaging, distinctive signs, or legal procedures.
Therefore, we will organize several courses for the owners of these projects, focusing on how to build the brand and visual identity of the product. Also, to overcome these problems, we have corresponded with some of the colleges concerned with multimedia education to create and build an effective and fruitful cooperation relationship with the Authority, represented by the small projects that will enter the incubator.
Saba: What will be the cooperation mechanism between you and the universities to overcome these problems?
Al-Kabsi: We agreed with those colleges that the students’ graduation projects would be about drawing visual identity and designing brands for projects in which we faced problems, instead of imaginary projects for multimedia students.
In addition, we have networked between students and owners of small projects so that these students undertake their own costs at their universities on realistic projects, which are small and smaller projects.
Saba: What is the expected benefit from this agreement?
Al-Kabsi: Firstly, we will benefit from having the small project have its own identity for free, and secondly, we will qualify the students and provide them with sufficient experience to be able to enter the labor market and practice their work in the future.
In our view, these students are future projects for small projects, and the Authority is keen for them to be able to deal with customers and have real-world experience.
To this end, we sought to involve students in certain processes, such as production line operations and networking between them and project owners. Thus, we achieved two goals in one project, which is that the students will have practical experience, and on the other hand, project owners will benefit from the efforts of multimedia students for free.
Saba: Returning to the incubator project, how much time is allocated to the projects within the project?
Al-Kabsi: The time period for projects within the Marketing Business Incubator will be from six months to a year, after the project owner has taken a large dose of training and qualification courses, consultations and field visits to successful projects, thus ensuring that his project emerges from the incubator as an integrated project capable of competing.
Saba: What happens to the projects that are not accepted?
Al-Kabsi: For the projects that were not accepted, we also conducted a screening process with the aim of preparing a training map for them to raise their capabilities so that they would be eligible to enter the second phase of the Marketing Business Incubator project.
The Authority has allocated rehabilitation activities for these projects in the field of capacity building and in various fields so that it is ready to enter the second phase of the project.
Saba: What are the privileges that project owners accepted into the incubator will receive?
Al-Kabsi: There are some privileges that project owners will enjoy. In addition to free training courses jointly funded by the Authority, Bonyan Development Foundation, and the Capital Municipality, they will receive a trade name and visual identity for free, , spaces, tents, and documents for presenting projects will be provided for free.
In addition, visits will be organized for them to successful factories, financial institutions and merchants for the purpose of networking until these projects become independent and competitive in the market.
Saba: What are your ambitions for the marketing incubator?
Al-Kabsi: Our ambition is for there to be several incubators, and Al-Sabeen Park in the capital secretariat will be the first incubator, and we seek, through coordination with the relevant authorities, to create several marketing incubators in parks and gardens, not only in the secretariat, but also in the provinces.
According to our vision, the incubator will consist of fifty projects, which will be followed by fifty or more projects in the second phase. Any project that will prove within the three months of the incubator period that it has become trustworthy and capable of competing in the market will be removed as a pilot project and another project will replace it.
That is a nice thing that we have five or six incubators, which means that we will produce about 300 pioneering projects per year, and each project will accommodate between five to six or ten workers, and these are job opportunities that we provide through incubators and are part of the Authority’s projects.
J.A
Through this incubator, the first phase of which is scheduled to be launched in Al-Sabeen Park in Amanat Al-Asimah during the coming period, the Authority aims, with the participation of fifty projects, to support the access of small and micro-enterprise products to the local and foreign markets.
The head of the General Authority for Small and Micro Enterprise Development, Ahmed Al-Kabsi, explained in an interview with the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), that the Authority seeks through its project to restore community confidence in the products of small and micro enterprises.
He pointed out that these projects will be part of the Marketing Business Incubator Project , will enjoy many privileges , receive integrated , interconnected support, starting with productive , marketing training , qualification activities, and passing through strengthening the follow-up mechanism for the process of improvement, development , evaluation of the projects , ending with them owning a trade name to become projects with a licensed trademark in terms of form, content and conformity to health and environmental standards.
The following is the text of the interview :
Saba: Could you give us a brief idea about the marketing business incubator project that you intend to implement?
Al-Kabsi: The marketing incubator project is not a display of products, but rather a complete building of the capabilities of small and smaller projects, whether in the technical or marketing field, in making the financing decision, or in networking with merchants or suppliers, so that there is an integrated cycle of qualification that each project goes through so that its owner emerges from it with experience.
Complete construction of his project, including qualification in the field of marketing, so that he can enter the markets without the help of others in the future.
The concept of a marketing incubator requires work and effort, and through our studies and experiences, we have found that providing free marketing space for small and smaller projects is not the most appropriate solution for the owners of those projects. Rather, providing space with training is sufficient to make any small project capable of competing in the markets.
The market is interested in the direct sale and purchase of the product and does not interfere in the processes of modifying the product or raising its level so that it is able to compete.
However in the incubator project we focus on the project owner working to improve his product through our interventions so that he has full experience in entering the market and marketing and is able to compete. It produces other external products without interference or protection from any party.
Saba: Why do you think that providing free marketing space for small projects is not the ideal solution?
Al-Kabsi: Providing space for products is a good goal, but it is not a comprehensive solution for small business owners because we, as government agencies, will not be able to provide free space forever.
We believe that it is not appropriate for these markets to remain open permanently because at some point we will discover that these projects cannot compete or enter the markets as a strong, quality product, and therefore they will remain dependent on those markets provided by government agencies.
Based on our vision and directions in the Authority, we are keen that small projects do not remain “small”, on the contrary, we want them to develop into medium and large projects. However, in light of the continued provision of marketing space for these projects only, this is a problem that limits their ability to develop if not Deteriorate.
Saba: What is the Authority’s vision regarding the development of small and micro enterprises?
Al-Kabsi: Our vision is that we are responsible for producing small projects and not a specific commodity. Therefore, we are building future projects that will be competitive in the market and have the ability to enter the marketing field with high efficiency. We are keen to move away from emotional marketing and move to another stage, which is buying for the commodity itself because it will be a strong commodity and of quality.
Therefore, we have developed an integrated plan for the marketing business incubator for small and smaller projects based on a complete vision for those projects from before they enter the incubator and until they emerge into the local market as pioneering projects.
Saba: What are the most important components of that plan?
Al-Kabsi: The most important components of this plan are to fully build the capabilities of small and smaller projects, whether in the technical or marketing field, in making the financing decision, or in networking with merchants , suppliers, and implementing an integrated package of technical and administrative qualification for each project and qualifying it in the marketing field .
Therefore, the Authority will work to implement its interventions within the incubator project at the level of each project by addressing its weaknesses and enhancing its strengths. We expect that several projects will be launched to be the nucleus of future companies.
Saba: Where have you reached in implementing the incubator project?
Al-Kabsi: During the past few years, we completed the first phase of the project, which consisted of coordinating with our partners to announce the incubator.
Hundreds of entry applications were received from owners of small and smaller projects. We have set certain criteria for accepting any project, based on the priority being given to projects related to food manufacturing and clothing. (Clothes) as a national priority required by the current stage.
Of course, the stage of receiving projects was carried out by the sectors specific to each project. For example, projects in the food manufacturing sector were received by nutrition experts who specialize in food manufacturing, marketing, support , technical inspection, and those projects were evaluated and sorted.
About five hundred projects were screened in multiple sectors and according to the specified criteria. The screening process resulted in the acceptance of 50 projects to be part of the first phase of the Marketing Business Incubator project.
Saba: What is the importance of studying and evaluating the project owner?
Al-Kabsi: Studying and evaluating the project owner is of great importance, which is knowing whether that person is an entrepreneur and has future aspirations related to continuing the process of developing his/her project, or whether he/she just wants to provide a source of income, because it is important for him/her to have an idea and a future vision for his project. If she/he does not have this only needs to provide a source of income, as there is another intervention that the Authority makes regarding it.
Saba: How did the owners of small and smaller projects respond to the announcement of the incubator project?
Al-Kabsi: In the beginning, the announcement was made through the authority’s partners, who received a number of applications. In fact, the number of applicants did not match our ambitions. Therefore, we expanded the advertising process by posting the application form on the authority’s page on the Internet, which had a positive impact on the process of receiving applications, as hundreds applied to us from small and micro enterprise owners.
Saba: What are the most prominent problems that you faced during the stage of receiving applications?
Al-Kabsi: The most prominent problem is the presence of technically good products, but unfortunately they lack some important aspects, such as packaging, distinctive signs, or legal procedures.
Therefore, we will organize several courses for the owners of these projects, focusing on how to build the brand and visual identity of the product. Also, to overcome these problems, we have corresponded with some of the colleges concerned with multimedia education to create and build an effective and fruitful cooperation relationship with the Authority, represented by the small projects that will enter the incubator.
Saba: What will be the cooperation mechanism between you and the universities to overcome these problems?
Al-Kabsi: We agreed with those colleges that the students’ graduation projects would be about drawing visual identity and designing brands for projects in which we faced problems, instead of imaginary projects for multimedia students.
In addition, we have networked between students and owners of small projects so that these students undertake their own costs at their universities on realistic projects, which are small and smaller projects.
Saba: What is the expected benefit from this agreement?
Al-Kabsi: Firstly, we will benefit from having the small project have its own identity for free, and secondly, we will qualify the students and provide them with sufficient experience to be able to enter the labor market and practice their work in the future.
In our view, these students are future projects for small projects, and the Authority is keen for them to be able to deal with customers and have real-world experience.
To this end, we sought to involve students in certain processes, such as production line operations and networking between them and project owners. Thus, we achieved two goals in one project, which is that the students will have practical experience, and on the other hand, project owners will benefit from the efforts of multimedia students for free.
Saba: Returning to the incubator project, how much time is allocated to the projects within the project?
Al-Kabsi: The time period for projects within the Marketing Business Incubator will be from six months to a year, after the project owner has taken a large dose of training and qualification courses, consultations and field visits to successful projects, thus ensuring that his project emerges from the incubator as an integrated project capable of competing.
Saba: What happens to the projects that are not accepted?
Al-Kabsi: For the projects that were not accepted, we also conducted a screening process with the aim of preparing a training map for them to raise their capabilities so that they would be eligible to enter the second phase of the Marketing Business Incubator project.
The Authority has allocated rehabilitation activities for these projects in the field of capacity building and in various fields so that it is ready to enter the second phase of the project.
Saba: What are the privileges that project owners accepted into the incubator will receive?
Al-Kabsi: There are some privileges that project owners will enjoy. In addition to free training courses jointly funded by the Authority, Bonyan Development Foundation, and the Capital Municipality, they will receive a trade name and visual identity for free, , spaces, tents, and documents for presenting projects will be provided for free.
In addition, visits will be organized for them to successful factories, financial institutions and merchants for the purpose of networking until these projects become independent and competitive in the market.
Saba: What are your ambitions for the marketing incubator?
Al-Kabsi: Our ambition is for there to be several incubators, and Al-Sabeen Park in the capital secretariat will be the first incubator, and we seek, through coordination with the relevant authorities, to create several marketing incubators in parks and gardens, not only in the secretariat, but also in the provinces.
According to our vision, the incubator will consist of fifty projects, which will be followed by fifty or more projects in the second phase. Any project that will prove within the three months of the incubator period that it has become trustworthy and capable of competing in the market will be removed as a pilot project and another project will replace it.
That is a nice thing that we have five or six incubators, which means that we will produce about 300 pioneering projects per year, and each project will accommodate between five to six or ten workers, and these are job opportunities that we provide through incubators and are part of the Authority’s projects.
J.A
resource : SABA